1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accessories for eyewear devices and, more particularly, to an eyewear assembly comprising a flexible cord having an adjustable length.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many types of eyewear, including sunglasses, safety glasses, corrective eyeglasses and the like (hereinafter collectively termed "eyewear"). Eyewear protects a wearer's eyes from environmental effects such as glare, wind and airborne particles, and/or they compensate for visual defects including myopia and astigmatism. Furthermore, health and safety regulations require that individuals working in noisy environments be protected by wearing appropriate safety equipment, such as hearing protectors. Various types of hearing protectors are currently available to workers for this purpose, such as earplugs, ear muffs and semi-aural hearing protectors. Of these, earplugs have gained universal acceptance in both industrial and consumer settings because of their size, comfort, economy and attenuation characteristics.
In general, a set of eyewear comprises a metallic or plastic frame and a pair of glass or plastic lenses. The frame generally includes a lens piece and two temple pieces. The unitary lens piece holds or supports the lenses in a plane in front of the wearer's eyes. A curved bridge is formed into the lens piece between the frame portions that hold the lenses. The lens piece also has two sides adjacent to the lenses which are each hingeably connected to one of the temple pieces.
Although earplugs and eyewear may be provided separately, it is often desirable to provide them with suitable attachments to prevent loss should the they become dislodged. For example, it is important in the food processing industry to prevent any foreign matter from entering food products. As a result, various types of cords or connectors for attaching a pair of eyeglasses (or similarly earplugs) have been developed, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,074,375 to Grozil; 4,314,553 to Westerdal; 4,253,452 to Powers et al.; 4,219,018 to Draper, Jr.; 4,193,396 to Wacker; 3,871,372 to Bivins; 2,704,961 to Weil; and 2,649,020 to Wheeler.
Typically, the cord is a relatively long, continuous and flexible material fixed to, and extending between, the temple bars at the ends closest to the wearer's ear. The cord is of sufficient length, generally ranging from between 21 inches to 27 inches, to extend from one ear to the other ear of a wearer while further providing enough slack to secure the cord to some convenient portion of the wearer's apparel, e.g. a shirt collar, or to be draped around the neck of a wearer when not in use. Suitable materials for such cords are conventional in nature and include natural and synthetic materials, for example, cotton, wool, plastic, plastic such as polyvinylchloride, and may be in the form of a continuous solid strand or a braided/twisted multi-strand construction.
While such cords serve their intended function, several disadvantages are associated with their use. For example, at the lengths noted above, the cord itself must be fastened (e.g. using a "cigar-type" band) to prevent tangling and/or knotting during shipping. Therefore, in addition to the extra material needed to fasten the cords, additional handling and preparation for packaging is also required. As such, excessive material waste is of concern as well as maintaining the sanitary integrity of the plugs.
A need therefore remains for alternative attachment mechanisms for earplugs and eyewear which provide adequate strength and flexibility to the user, and which solve the problems related to excessive cord length.